For the entire day yesterday I felt that the Century Tuna 5150 International Triathlon was my worst race ever. I had prepared for this and yet, my race had gone to the dogs, nothing went as planned and I clocked in way after i expected i would cross the finish line. My race began with a strong elbow to the forehead delivered by a male triathlete in a white swim cap. His arm knocked my goggles askew. I worked hard to get my bearings and expended a lot of energy trying to overtake the swarm of bodies in front of me. It felt like a good swim but towards the last 500 meters i felt some tiredness in my legs. Unusual to me, this early in the race. I made decent time despite the rocky start and ran up the steps... only to trip and fall flat on my face. A male triathlete helped me to my feet and after a quick body check I realized that apart from a small wound on my shin and a slightly bigger one on my pride, I was none the worse for wear. With a bump slowly forming on my forehead I ran to my bike and was soon out of transition. In retrospect it was in the bike that had made the most glaring mistakes. I had biked the uphills going to IDESS loop before and felt confident that it shouldnt be too much of a problem but I suppose my unprecedented extra effort on the swim really did take its toll on me. I knew I wasnt going as fast as I wanted, seeing people I knew I had left behind on the swim overtake me one by one. But I pushed still, thinking in my head that I cant possibly be that slow... I had gotten stronger. My training should be kicking in. Usually the bike is my mid-race buffet but it was only on the way to Tarlac road that I remembered to take an energy gel. I consumed half the sachet and put away the other half. I had subsisted on just water for almost 2 hours which would have been okay if I remembered to bring my salt sticks. As it was, that half gel was the only nutrition I had in my body. By the time I had reached the top of Tarlac road my legs felt tired and I felt exhausted. On the first kilometer of the run my legs gave way, Literally. Both of my quads and one of my calves locked solid in simultaneous cramps and I had to fall to the side of the road. A medic came over and tried to massage my legs, with me screaming in pain every time he tried to straighten my leg. A friend Pebbles passed and was kind enough to give me some liniment spray to help relieve the pain, but the cramps persisted. After a few minutes, a team mate of mine arrived and convinced me to get up and try walking it out. Papa Chito offered to stay with me throughout the ten kilometer run. I jogged slowly with him for about 200 meters then my muscles locked again and I could hardly walk. I told him to go ahead, I was going back to the transition area and DNF. Then super athlete Mara Guevara arrived. To say she was the reason I finished the race would be quite accurate. She gave me a salt stick and said I had 3 hours to finish 9km. I would make it even if I walked it. I really did not want to but imagined that this could just as well be the last 10km at Langkawi. If that were the case, I knew I would crawl to the finish if I had to. And so limping... I walked. Mara never left me, this strong triathlete who knew little about me except for the fact that she had seen me at the aqua sphere race a few weeks ago. She listened patiently while I cried out my disappointment and told me stories of her own triathlon journey. Before I knew it we were home. I crossed the finish line with her in triumph. I realize now that this race may actually have been my best race experience ever for the following reasons: First, I learned that nutrition is possibly the most important thing in a race after the actual training for the swim, bike and run. It was good that I was rudely awakened to this way before my actual A-race. This gives me time to adjust my strategy. Second, I learned that the only thing that stands between me and that finish line is my pride and my own expectations. But more importantly, I learned that with the proper mindset, I CAN overcome. 3 months from now I will cross that finish line. Crawling if need be. Third, I realized again, that triathletes are such wonderful people. They understand the meaning of frustration, the feeling of disappointment and because of that they know that there is nothing that would fill us with regret than the knowledge that we had given up when we could have persevered. Thank you Pebbles, Chito and Mara for bringing me to that finish line. Thank you to that unknown triathlete who picked me up from the ground after the swim. Thank you to my wonderful team Century Tri-hard who believed in me even when I constantly doubt myself. Special mention to Cap Robert, Victor and Ivan who never tire of giving me pep talks when I go into panic mode. Thank you to Louie and the North guys for training me like Im one of the boys. Thank you to the Dashing Divas who always had faith in my strength and potential. Thank you Coach Julian and my Turtle Pace training crew for preparing me for this race. Thank you to Jay Ramos and Marga and Ches for being such warm and wonderful hosts. Next stop Cobra Ironman 70.3. And I will do better because I had learned and because you all believed.
Posted on: Mon, 30 Jun 2014 14:56:22 +0000
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